No Longer Just Clay (Poem)

Lord, 
You are the Potter, and I am the clay.
Shape me and mold me, Lord, have Your own way.
But...when it comes to feeling Your oven’s heat,
  I don’t wanna be part of Your ‘clay elite’.

(Sounds familiar?)

To be useful, into fire we clay must go.
For usefulness, yes, and also to grow.
As You turn up the heat, You bet we’ll all squawk!
Your eyes keeping watch, like those of a hawk.

Such a hot oven, You don’t just cast us in it.
Between our squawks we’ll see, You’ve joined us there in it!!
With eyes fixed on You, all fears become calm.
Your presence becomes a cooling heat balm.

Together, withstanding heat ever so severe,
Weak spots become strong, impurities disappear.
When cooled and polished, our faith soars in Your plan and design.
Only then are we, once clay, ready for Your use...Divine.

Friend,
  When heat into your righteous life is sent,
Seek to know God’s reason and His intent.
He is faithful, and to you He’ll give a sign,
One that’ll calm your fears, and ease your troubled mind.

All heat is not sent as judgment for your sins.
God also sends heat for...vessel transitions.
Then, my Friend, your choice is to stay as useless as clay,
Or take a ‘hot rod ride’ on His...Transition Highway!

Fresh or Faded Examples? (Poem)

Sodom and Gomorrah were meant to be,

Examples for those who live ungodly. *

Well, here’s a test: In your mind, life and community,

Do these examples fresh or faded appear to be??

The eroding waves of time and culture have well removed,

The deep, impactful lessons these examples once behooved.

They no longer ‘speak volumes’ of the consequences,

Of ungodly living’s punishment incidences.

Since then, there have been countless other examples,

All eroded by time and new cultural samples.

We humans have a deeply rooted ‘I am different’ trait,

Believing we won’t succumb to what others bit as bait!

Indeed, different we are, but you’d never guess how.

Each generation is more deaf and blind somehow,

To lessons of others, so their mistakes we repeat.

And as we repeat, we add our own onto the heap!

In the midst of this, God is raising up a people,

Whose ears and eyes are open, and who aren’t so feeble.

Understanding the fresh relevance of lessons past,

Reading God’s Word and today’s news, they’re catching on fast!

Moreover....

Fresh examples of the benefits of living godly,

Are spreading all across our world. If you look, you will see!

To those ‘who have eyes to see and ears to hear’, this conveys,

Grace to repent and turn from their own ungodly ways.

The remainder have eyes and ears, too, but they are determined,

To not perceive or to believe. They have been so undermined.

They love their ways and the promises of things attainable:

‘Satisfaction, Instantaneous, but Non-sustainable’. (S.I.N.)

As you ponder my rhyme of faded and fresh examples,

Consider our world, and how much of it is in shambles.

Here’s another test - you won’t be daunted:

In which of these groups are YOU now counted??

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* People in these ancient cities were exceedingly wicked, and were destroyed by The Lord in an incredibly harsh manner. See: Genesis 19

God’s Inferred Strategic Timelines

In studying eschatology (end time prophecies), I find it is helpful to review what we understand in order to see what light (if any) it may shed on what we do not fully understand. Here’s my recent top 10 points review, followed by a few insightful ponderings.

What We Understand

1.  We understand The Bible often communicates God’s strategies and tactics in ‘weeks’ of sevens (a Biblically important number), which in some instances are 7 earth days, 70 earth years, 7,000 years, or even 7 weeks of years, as in Daniel’s vision of 70 weeks of 7 years, totaling 490 years.

2.  Adam gave satan a ‘long-term lease’ on planet earth. Scholars estimate Adam was created 4004 BC, or about 6030 years ago. We don’t know what year Adam ‘signed’ this lease (i.e., when he and Eve sinned against God) or how long it will last. Many Bible scholars guesstimate it will last a week of millennia (7,000 years).

3.  We understand The Lord enjoyed His Sabbath rest in Day 7 of the creation week. This may either be a literal 24-hour earth day, or a thousand years, as metaphorically noted in Psalm 90:4, or something else entirely. We also understand God activated the first chapter of His plan of salvation early in mankind’s second millennium, with the birth of Noah 1056 years after creation.

4.  We understand from Zechariah 14 that Jesus will return to Earth at the end of the tribulation period during which Christ rejecters will be punished. At that time, He will end the Armageddon War (Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19:11-21), and then establish His thousand-year reign from His base in Jerusalem.

5.  We understand His reign will be accomplished and facilitated by The Church, redeemed and immortal, with resurrected Christians appointed as kings and administrative support staff over cities, regions and nations across the entire post-tribulation world, and by the redeemed remnant of Israel as His priests in Jerusalem. (Exodus 19:6)

6.  We understand satan (and presumably his cohort of demons) will be locked up during this thousand-year reign of Christ, and afterward must be released for a ‘short time’ to deceive the nations. (Revelation 20:3) How long might this ‘short time’ of deception last? Consider that current day historians understand the first war to be recorded was in 2700 BC, some 4,000 years after Adam was created, or ~1,100 years after the flood. Did it take this long for satan to deceive the world and foment war? How long might it take him to do this after the Millennial Reign?

7.  We understand there will be no mortal warfare during Christ’s Millennial reign, as mortals will ‘beat their swords (armaments) into plows (productive tools), and learn/study war no more’. This infers there will be no armaments industry on earth during Christ’s thousand-year reign.

8.  We understand from that a battle even greater than the 1st War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38) and the Armageddon War (Revelation 19:11-21), will occur sometime following Christ’s reign. This will be the 2nd War of Gog and Magog. (Revelation 20:7-10) This will be the concluding result of satanic deceptions of nations when he is released for ‘a short time’ following Christ’s reign. This signals the armaments industry and study of war will resume big-time post-Millennial reign. Since it will likely take quite some time for mortal mankind, once again to ‘learn war’, devils and demons will thus have their work cut out for them following a thousand years of peace on earth.

9.  We understand from Zechariah 14 that Jesus will be physically on the Earth to end the Armageddon War. However, in an insightful contrast, Ezekiel 38 and Revelation 20:7-10 do not infer a physical presence of Christ on Earth during the 1st War of Gog and Magog (before His Millennial Reign), and the 2nd War of Gog and Magog (some time after His Millennial Reign). However, Revelation 20:9 does suggest the continued presence on Earth of some post-Millennial Reign saints in Israel and Jerusalem. This begs the question, 'Which saints?' This apparently refers to people who will become saints during and/or after the Millennial Reign. (See: Salvation in the Millennium (Series))

10. We understand this final attack in Israel will be followed by the general resurrection from the dead of all  humans who will have missed all earlier resurrections and rapture events. The Lord consulting The Book of Life, per Revelation 20:8 and 15, indicates the presence of saints in this massive crowd.. All others will be judged and cast into the eternal lake of fire, very likely on the new, eternal Earth. This is the Great White Throne Judgment. NB: Both groups will be resurrected in their physical,  immortal/eternal bodies, with their spirits and souls in tact, not as some ethereal spirits incapable of feeling pain, or expressing joy/grief, etc. Scriptural basis for this conclusion is the 7 times (# of perfection) Jesus stated, ...there will be weeping/wailing and gnashing of teeth' in the lake of fire/hell -- characteristics only attributable to physical bodies!!!

What We Don’t Understand

A. From the above, we see clearly that The Bible affirms satan’s and his cohorts will have two deceptive periods of rulership on Earth – the first beginning when Adam and Eve sinned, and a second beginning at the end of Christ’s Millennial Reign. Curiously and alarmingly, both are referred to as lasting for a ‘short time/little while’. (See Revelation 12:12 and 20:3) Could there possibly be any meaningful time correlations between these two, unique references? The first ‘short time’ has thus far lasted nearly 7 millennia, or a week of millennia (based on Moses’s metaphorical reference in Psalm 90:4 to a thousand years being like a day to God)! Short time/little while, eh? So could there possibly be yet another several thousand years of satanic rule over mortals post-Christ’s Millennial reign??

B. If the New Jerusalem (an exceedingly large and great cubed city) will not descend on the new Earth until after the Great White Throne Judgment (inferred in Revelation 21 that follows Revelation 20), what might we imagine Jerusalem and Christ’s Throne look like during His Millennial Reign? Could the temple described at the end of the Book of Ezekiel be a clue. If so, what should we presume re. the animal sacrifices for sin offerings that Ezekiel mentions? Will they be either for (a) all Jews who will have survived the great tribulation with the mark of the beast, plus their descendants born in The Millennial Reign; or (b) EVERYBODY (Jews and Gentiles) who will have survived the great tribulation with the mark of the beast, plus their descendants who will be born during The Millennial Reign?

C. Will there be salvation during The Millennial Reign? Is the active presence of devils and demons a prerequisite for salvation, and proven faith to overcome their deceptions and temptations, as it is with us today? If so, there will likely be no salvation during that age simply because satan's kingdom will be 'locked away', per Revelation 20. Isaiah 11 an 65 give us a synopsis of that age, and Isaiah 65:20 clearly references people dying. What does dying without being deceived and tempted by satan's kingdom infer regarding salvation? Of course, no one knows, and this is open to much speculation. See mine here: Salvation in the Millennium (Series). One key to understanding this issue is to understand the diverse human populations on Earth during atheism Millennial Reign.

Blame Game: From Jobs-to-Job (Poem)

 Scapegoat, misdiagnosis or misplaced blame,

Whatever the name, it’s really all the same.

No matter the problem, we conclude, ‘It is not my fault!’

So we can’t distinguish between ‘the cause and the result…’

The blacks blame the whites, and some vice versa.

All blame governments for their agenda.

For jobs lost, we blame globalization,

Yet insist we’re ‘up for competition’.

No matter the party, we blame presidents.

Then we blame Congressional impediments.

For the mess in Syria, we blame Russia,

Like America’s blamed for Venezuela.

For children’s bad choices, we blame their parents,

And some blame their fathers for their absence.

For flooding of jails, we blame cops and judges,

When we can’t resist our ‘criminal nudges’.

Scapegoat, misdiagnosis or misplaced blame,

Why can’t we see through this devils’ trick and game?

For every problem, God has a mirror just for us,

But we’ll ignore His mirror, just to keep up our fuss.

In all of human nature, there’s a deep-rooted flaw.

We load our ‘camel’ down, until the very last straw!

It’s only when we finally hit our crisis mode,

Do we link our bad fruits to all the bad seeds we’ve sowed.

Then, humbled and broken, grieving all that we have lost,

We’re then ready for God’s mirror, no matter the cost.

It’ll reveal the star role our pride played in our blame game,

And it’ll show us our need to repent in Jesus’ Name .

Friend, God gave me this poem for you to probe,

What He wrote in the book that He calls ‘Job’.

First written of The Bible’s 66 books,

Pause and ponder how to you Job’s lesson looks.

Job blamed his children for their ‘possible sins’.¹

Satan blamed God ‘cause He had Job all ‘hedged in’.²

Acting in fear caused Job his ‘God hedge’ to lose.

Satan got in. Job got a string of bad news!

Job blamed God for all the mess he was then in.³

His friends came to mourn, but then blamed him for sin.⁴

Job wanted his ‘day in court’ with God Almighty!⁵

Then God showed up, but ole Job had no attorney!⁶

Peppered with God’s heavy duty cross-examination,

Job then found himself in an even worse situation!

Looking in the mirror of God’s Words, he sensed in his gut, ‘

I need to repent... quickly, and my blaming mouth to shut!^’7

He did repent and shut up, then to him, God extended Grace.

For all that Job had lost, God gave a whole lot more to replace.⁸

Now you, Friend, tell me what lesson from Job’s blame games will you learn?

From your blame games, what will it take for you to make a U-turn?

Since it’s our nature to play the blame game,

What we all do is find others to shame.

In shaming, their reputations we maim,

While protecting our fame is our real aim.

But it’s our heart and tongue we need to tame,

On our knees, repenting in Jesus’ Name.

We will then beat devils at their own game.

Inspecting ourselves, God’s blessings we’ll claim.

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¹ Job 1:5 and 3:25

² Job 1:10

³ Job 7:20-22, but see 16: 9-14 and 30:19-24.

Ponder this: For what did Job repent in 42:3-6, if not blaming God for unjust punishment?

See:  https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/what-was-jobs-sin

⁴ Job 4-23, 

⁵ Job 9, esp. v.35 and 16:21

⁶ Job 38 - 41

⁷ Job 40:3-5, 42:6

⁸ Job 42:12-17

Tag, You're It (poem)

We are the sum of what we tolerate.

That which we tolerate, we propagate.

The ‘we’ I refer to is/are Christians. So what do we tolerate? I address this with another question: How do we label a condition in which a person’s spirit and body are in quite good condition, but the mental functions are not? Mentally deficient or challenged or ill? Deranged? What if the condition is long term, resulting in slow, steady mental deterioration?

A Christian is someone whose spirit has been regenerated, i.e., ‘born again’, by God’s power, the initial benefit of accepting Christ’s sacrificial death as the substitute punishment for his/her sin. Additionally, a Christian has been spiritually born or baptized into, and is referred to as ‘The Body of Christ’, and has received God’s promise of a new, immortal body in which his/her eternal spirit will spend eternity with God.*

So what’s missing? Created by Jesus in the image of God, human beings are spirit (our essence), soul (mind, will, emotions, imagination and intellect), and physical body. Per the above, God has clearly addressed our need for a regenerated spirit and body. However, He has delegated to us the challenge of saving/renewing/regenerating our soul/mind. Poetically speaking:

Jesus can save your spirit,

But He says you must save your soul.

If you have not yet done it,

You're not yet fully in His fold!!!

The human soul comprises five mental functions: the reasoning mind, the knowing intellect, the feeling emotions, the desiring will, the creative imagination). Think of it as your govenator, controlling the link between your spirit and your body, and facilitating your interactions with our physical world. Now imagine being born into a new world with a healthy spirit and body, but relatively undeveloped soul/mental capabilities. This is the picture so well painted in the movie, Avatar. In this movie, the spirit and soul of a brilliant (human) paraplegic scientist/social scientist was teleported, via a futuristic technology, into an alien body on a planet under threat of human mining operations to extract and transport a rare mineral to earth. During his initial foray on this planet, he encounters a female alien who saves his butt from certain disaster, and then spurns him as ‘a baby!’ Imagine that! Highly educated and experienced in human terms, and in a body that is far more exceptional than his human body confined to a wheel chair, yet acting like a babe in this new world! 

Unfortunately, this is the picture of too many Christians -- baby Christians who have not taken on Christ’s challenge to save/renew their soul/mind. Moreover, they have l-o-n-g tolerated, and thus propagated this condition. We erroneously refer to them as ‘spiritual babes’. Why erroneous? God has assured the total, complete regeneration of their spirit, and has totally infused His Spirit with their spirit. There is NO deficiency here. Like the movie character, they are deficient in another area -- content to get by with babyish reasoning, emotions, imagination, will, and intellect relative to citizenship in The Kingdom of God. The sad kicker is that mental capabilities are not static. Like any capability, they atrophy without use and development. With Alzheimer’s disease, a form of plaque protein accumulates across increasing portions of a person’s brain, clouding and eventually dousing out their mental functionality. I imagine long-term baby Christians may accumulate the plaque of pliant pilgrimage in our carnal cosmos. They flow fluidly with its cultural currents, unable to discern The Holy Spirit’s urgings and unctions.

God calls upon us to live by faith, and by faith, learn to receive from Him according to His promises. Does this also apply to soul salvation, for which we are primarily responsible? It certainly does! So how do we accomplish this? 2 Peter 1:3-4 affirm that, via His Word promises, received and acted on by faith, God has given to us ALL things that pertain to godly living. Thus, it is safe to conclude this is also how we should begin our soul development process – namely agreeing with, professing, and meditating on exactly what God’s Word says about the matter, then daily yielding to His Spirit to accomplish the development work. 

Ok, so what does He say about soul salvation and development. We typically think about Romans 12:2, where Paul’s writes ‘...And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God’. However, this is simply an admonition, not a direct promise, per se, on which one can build faith. Rather, a relevant, faith-building promise is found in 1 Corinthians 2:16, a verse we may not hear frequently in Christian circles. It simply states ‘...But you have the mind of Christ.’ Here is a powerful confession to support your soul salvation:

By faith, I receive and I have The Mind of Christ! Period!

As I study/meditate God’s Word, His Spirit develops This Mind in me.

We generally have no problem understanding that we have God’s Spirit in us, and that we are His body. The short circuit happens when it comes to our soul, that is, our mental faculties that pertain to our new life. As you make this confession and meditation part of your life, don’t be surprised if you experience some significant transformations:

o From Christ-enmity, to Christ-amity. The Bible reveals that our carnal/un-regenerated thought process is at enmity (is an enemy) with God. Being an alleged born again Christian without proactively practicing soul salvation is being God’s enemy! Amity is the opposite of enmity.

o From Christianity, to Christ-I-Am-ity. The word, Christianity means ‘follower of Christ, The Anointed One’, and it has a Latin ending, ‘ianity’, which means ‘belonging to’. Christ-I-Am-ity signifies continually growing into the fullness of Christ, spirit, soul and body, to the extent possible in this life. He came, died, and was raised to reconcile us back to God. He accomplishes this in three broad strokes -- spirit, soul, and body in that sequence. He gave us His Word and instructed us to use it to save/restructure our soul functions (mind, intellect, will, imaginations, emotions). While He cannot/will not do that for us, His Spirit is certainly willing, ready, and able to do this with us. 

There is a soul Jesus cannot save -- Yours!

Yes, He can open or close any doors,

But He is powerless to save your soul.

To you, this He delegates as your role.

For this, He’s provided all the resources,

His Word, Spirit, angels, and ‘Body sources’.

If His challenge you refuse and decline,

There will be no hope for your carnal mind.

Carnality of the world is like soul plaque.

Here’s a way to know if your soul has been hacked,

And also to know if you’re really in Christ’s sheepfold:

Ask: ‘What priority do I give to saving my soul?’

Remember, only God can save your spirit,

And also give you a new body for it!

But when it comes to ensuring your soul is fit,

Imagine Jesus saying to you…

Tag, You’re It!

See: Christiam (Poem)

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* According to The Bible, every human will receive such a body. The difference between Christians and non-Christians is where they will spend eternity in their immortal bodies.